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Photos:Photos: Sandy's destructive path

Sandy's destructive path – Atlantic City, New Jersey, resident Kim Johnson inspects the area around her apartment building, which flooded on Tuesday, October 30. Large sections of an old boardwalk also were destroyed by Superstorm Sandy. Nearly 11,000 people spent Monday night in 258 Red Cross-operated shelters across 16 states because of Sandy, the American Red Cross tells CNN.View photos of New York recovering from impact.

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Sandy's destructive path – Cars float in a flooded parking area on Tuesday in the financial district of New York.

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Sandy's destructive path – A power line knocked over by a falling tree blocks a street on Tuesday in Chevy Chase, Maryland.

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Sandy's destructive path – Waves break next to an apartment building in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on Tuesday.

Sandy's destructive path – Buses at Frankford terminal in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, sit idle after Mayor Michael Nutter ordered that all city offices be closed Monday and Tuesday due to potential damage from Sandy.

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Sandy's destructive path – A woman walks down the promenade along the East River in New York City on Monday.

Sandy's destructive path – Air Force One arrives at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. President Barack Obama canceled his appearance at a campaign rally in Orlando, Florida, and returned to Washington to monitor the response to Hurricane Sandy.

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Sandy's destructive path – A road leading to casinos in Atlantic City is empty before the hurricane makes landfall on Monday.

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Sandy's destructive path – Obama steps off Air Force One on Monday after arriving at Andrews Air Force Base.

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Sandy's destructive path – A truck moves north on South Long Beach Avenue as rising water and wind ahead of Hurricane Sandy flood the area on Monday in Freeport, New York. The storm, which threatens 50 million people in the eastern third of the United States, is expected to bring days of rain, high wind and, in places, heavy snow.

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Sandy's destructive path – An overhead sign on the Southern Parkway alerts motorists to road closings in Wantagh, New York, on Monday.

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Sandy's destructive path – A truck fights its way through water on a road in Southampton, New York, on Monday.

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Sandy's destructive path – Andy Becica watches the heavy surf from Hurricane Sandy wash in Monday at Cape May, New Jersey. The full force of Hurricane Sandy is expected to hit the New Jersey coastline later Monday.

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Sandy's destructive path – Water forced ashore ahead of the hurricane starts to flood Beach Avenue in Cape May on Monday morning.

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Sandy's destructive path – A tattered piece of a billboard blows in the wind Monday in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

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Sandy's destructive path – Water floods a street in Atlantic City.

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Sandy's destructive path – An ambulance maneuvers through water on Rockaway Beach Boulevard in Queens as the weather sours Monday in New York City.

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Sandy's destructive path – People pose for pictures on the Brooklyn Bridge on Monday.

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Sandy's destructive path – A wave crashes over the bow of a tugboat in New York Harbor on Monday.

Sandy's destructive path – A satellite image shows Hurricane Sandy at 8:25 a.m. ET Monday. Forecasters warned that Sandy was likely to collide with a cold front and spawn a "superstorm" that could generate flash floods, snowstorms and massive power outages.

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Sandy's destructive path – People stand on the beach watching the heavy surf caused by the approaching hurricane on Sunday in Cape May.

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Sandy's destructive path – Sean Doyle of Levittown and Andrew Hodgson of Hicksville pull their boat from Long Island Sound on Sunday at Oyster Bay, New York.

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Sandy's destructive path – With Hurricane Sandy approaching, the Long Island Railroad announced the suspension of service at 7 p.m. Sunday in Hicksville, New York.

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Sandy's destructive path – Lisa Cellucci holds her umbrella as it is blown backward by Hurricane Sandy's winds as her friend Kim Vo watches on Sunday in Cape May.

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Sandy's destructive path – People look at the surf as high winds and heavy rain from Hurricane Sandy arrive in Virginia Beach, Virginia, on Sunday.

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Sandy's destructive path – A construction worker covers air vents Sunday to try to prevent the New York subway system from flooding by Hurricane Sandy. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced a shutdown and suspension of all subway, bus and commuter rail service in response to the storm.

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Sandy's destructive path – Residents of Long Beach, New York, fill sandbags on Sunday in preparation for the storm.

Sandy's destructive path – Scott Davenport brings plywood to cover the windows at the Trump Plaza casino on the boardwalk in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on Sunday.

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Sandy's destructive path – Bob Kaege takes a measurement while boarding up a shop in Cold Spring, New Jersey, on Saturday as Marie Jadick speaks on the telephone getting an updated weather report in preparation for Hurricane Sandy.

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Sandy's destructive path – Houses are flooded in the neighborhood of La Javilla in Santo Domingo, the capital of Dominican Republic, on Friday.

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Sandy's destructive path – Residents watch firefighters battle a blaze in Kingston, Jamaica, on Friday. The fire, which destroyed the home, was started by a faulty generator that was triggered when Sandy caused a blackout, firefighters said.

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Sandy's destructive path – A motorcyclist rides through a flooded street Friday in Petit-Goâve, Haiti, where three overflowing rivers put homes and farms under water.

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Sandy's destructive path – Corey Hutterli works on securing his sailboat as the outer bands of Hurricane Sandy are felt in Miami Beach, Florida, on Thursday, October 25.

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Sandy's destructive path – A woman stands at the entrance of her house surrounded by flood water after heavy rain in Santo Domingo on Thursday.

Story highlights

More than 15,000 flights have been canceled, a flight tracking site says

Many air travelers may reschedule without penalty

Amtrak has canceled service in the Northeast on Tuesday

Superstorm Sandy has weakened, yet her presence will be felt in the days and weeks to come as transportation systems assess impacts and try to resume schedules.

Much of Tuesday's air and rail service has been canceled, and millions of public transit commuters are without service. Here's what to expect in many of the affected areas:

Transit upheaval

New York City's massive public transit network was crippled overnight.

"The New York City subway system is 108 years old, but it has never faced a disaster as devastating as what we experienced last night," MTA Chairman Joseph J. Lhoto said in an online statement.

Seven subway tunnels under the East River flooded in the course of the storm, the Metro-North Railroad lost power in sections of its lines and the Long Island Rail Road sustained flooding in one East River tunnel and evacuated its West Side Yards, according to the statement. The Hugh L. Carey Tunnel flooded "from end to end," the Queens Midtown Tunnel also was closed because of flooding, and six bus garages were disabled.

Lhota said MTA employees will restore service as quickly as possible "to help bring New York back to normal."

Amtrak extended Northeast Corridor cancellations through Tuesday. Bus routes connected to those trains were also canceled. Trains coming to and from Canada or to and from the South will still operate, but they will stop short of the storm-affected states. Consult Amtrak's website for more details.

Thousands of flights canceled

There have already been more than 15,000 flight cancellations since Sunday as a result of Sandy, according to flight tracking site FlightAware.com.

That number is expected to rise, since FlightAware.com reports that most airports in the New York City area are closed and haven't announced reopening times.

"It is unlikely there will be scheduled flight operations to/from NYC today and some airlines have begun canceling flights on Wednesday," according to a FlightAware.com statement.

There have been 6,047 flights canceled for Tuesday, as of 8:50 a.m., FlightAware figures show. Philadelphia is leading the way with 1,085 cancellations followed by the New York-area airports with nearly 1,000 each.

Airlines have already canceled 635 flights for Wednesday. More cancellations are expected Tuesday and Wednesday as airport staffs assess damage.

American Airlines, JetBlue, Southwest Airlines (including its AirTran subsidiary), and US Airways announced cancellations Monday of all Tuesday operations to many Northeast locations, including the Philadelphia, Washington, Boston and New York City-area airports. United Airlines has canceled flights at the New York City airports and only expects to restart operations in the Washington area Tuesday night.

Delta Air Lines said Monday that "limited flying is expected to resume Tuesday afternoon at Delta's LaGuardia and JFK hubs with a full restart targeted for Wednesday, subject to conditions." An airline spokesman says Delta also plans to restart operations Tuesday morning at other Northeast airports, including the Boston and Washington-area airports, conditions permitting.

The good news is that the storm is happening during a slow travel season and airlines canceled many of the flights in advance, minimizing the number of stranded passengers, according to Farecompare.com Chief Executive Rick Seaney.

"Barring significant airport damage, flight patterns should be back to normal by the end of the weekend," Seaney said.